


One step closer

by energie_vie



Series: Magnetic [10]
Category: The Old Guard (Comics), The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Minor Andy Quynh Joe Nicky, Mutual Pining, POV Nile Freeman, Post-Movie: The Old Guard (2020), Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:54:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27798043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/energie_vie/pseuds/energie_vie
Summary: "Booker's eyes are closed, so Nile quietly closes the book and puts it on the armrest. His breathing is even and his face is very relaxed, so she assumes he's fallen asleep. She gently cards her fingers through his hair, over and over again and lets her mind wander. It's funny, she thinks, they're notdoinganything, they're not even talking and yet she feels so content, so fuzzy on the inside. It's the domesticity, she thinks and smiles goofily."OR: the one with more heartfelt conversations and a thoughtful gift.
Relationships: Booker | Sebastien le Livre/Nile Freeman
Series: Magnetic [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1987831
Comments: 19
Kudos: 94





	One step closer

**Author's Note:**

> Some fluffy fluff because why not? 
> 
> I'm gonna give credit to Linkin Park (RIP Chester) for the title, though this story is far from being angsty.
> 
> Spam time again: you can jump to the [Gooey](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1983568) series for their established relationship, it's the sequel to this series.
> 
> EDIT: no idea how I've missed the TOG profile for Booker until now (I'm facepalming right now) and in the spirit of accuracy, I've changed his birth date to the canon one.
> 
> EDIT: cover art at the end of the story by the wonderful StarWatcher.

Nile's bored. Severely and utterly bored, so pestering Booker is starting to sound better and better with every passing minute. She knows that with a little will she'd find something to occupy herself with but she really wants his company, whatever that entitles, so politeness be damned, today she wants to be childish.

'Seeeeb,' she whines, jutting her lower lip out for extra effect.

He's lounging on the couch, reading and Nile feels just a tiny bit bad for disrupting him. Booker lifts his left hand, silently asking for patience until he finishes the paragraph and then lets the book fall open on his chest, eyes lifting to meet hers.

'Yes, darling,' he smiles softly.

'Can I join you?'

'Of course,' he says, shifting on the couch and lifting his head to make room for her to sit down, resting it in her lap once she's fully comfortable.

'What are you reading?'

' _La Vorágine_.'

'Again? Didn't you just finish it last week?' Nile frowns in confusion.

'Yeah, well, I didn't think we'd end up stuck here, so I only brought this one with me.'

Here being Lesotho. They, together with Andy and Quynh, had come eight days ago to take care of a weapon trafficking ring. It hadn't been the easiest of jobs but they had gotten it done. The timing had been the real issue because they had found themselves in the middle of an Ebola outbreak and the authorities had enforced a lockdown precisely two days after their arrival.

Andy has been trying to get them out of the country via "alternative" means of transport for the past six days but no luck so far. For what has to be at least the hundredth time, Nile curses their bad luck and grudgingly wonders what Nicky and Joe are up to now. Probably sunbathing or sipping fruity cocktails under a colourful umbrella, listening to the waves and enjoying the peace and quiet.

'How many times have you read it so far?'

'Since we got here or since I bought it?' Booker chuckles.

'Since you bought it.'

'Oh, way too many times. At least twenty.'

'Can I borrow it?' Nile asks. 'It must be really good if you keep going back to it.'

'Of course,' he smiles, closing the book and handing it to her. 'And yes, it's one of my favourites.'

'I didn't mean right now, you're still reading it.'

'Not really, more like rereading certain parts. So please, take it and then let me know what you think. It'll be like a book club,' he laughs.

'You know, that's actually not a bad idea,' Nile giggles. 'Wanna do it?'

'What, have a book club?'

'Yeah. The two of us,' she clarifies, wondering when the hell she's become so reluctant to share him with anybody else. Probably during their holiday in Romania.

'Sure. You get to pick the next one,' he winks.

Nile just hums approvingly, opening the book and flipping through it. She's always done that, ever since she was a child: see how many pages there are, how big or small the font is, how much dialogue, whether it's structured into chapters or not. To set the correct expectations.

'No way! Is this an autograph from the author?!' she gasps, struggling to decipher the two scrawled lines on the title page.

'Yeah, we met in Brazil. Very interesting guy. And he died so young! I only found out about two years later and it made me so angry,' Booker sighs, so Nile falls quiet.

He's never had to say it out loud but she knows that he finds their immortality completely unfair. And yes, they're all doing as much good as they can and struggling to make it worthwhile but it still hurts to think of all the brilliant minds that disappear forever, most of them well ahead of their time. Sometimes she agrees with him and gets lost among hundreds of names who could have made a bigger difference had they lived for another year.

Booker's eyes are closed, so Nile quietly closes the book and puts it on the armrest. His breathing is even and his face is very relaxed, so she assumes he's fallen asleep. She gently cards her fingers through his hair, over and over again and lets her mind wander. It's funny, she thinks, they're not _doing_ anything, they're not even talking and yet she feels so content, so fuzzy on the inside. It's the domesticity, she thinks and smiles goofily.

She must have stopped caressing his hair at some point because Booker makes an unhappy sound.

'I thought you'd fallen asleep,' she says quietly.

'We've been doing basically nothing for almost a week and there must be something in the air here because I've been sleeping like the dead,' he chuckles at his own stupid joke. 'How much more can a man sleep?'

'Knowing you, at least a nap every day,' she teases.

'Ha, ha!' Booker says humourlessly. 'Anyway, next time I don't care if we're going somewhere for twelve hours only, I'm taking at least three books with me,' he rants and Nile feels the proverbial light bulb coming to life above her head.

'You know, I don't think I've ever asked you... When's your birthday?'

'Um, May..17th. Why?' he replies, sounding confused about the rather abrupt change of topic.

'Seriously, you had to stop and think about it?' Nile asks disbelievingly.

'Well, I'm sure the guys told you from the very beginning that we don't really do birthdays,' he shrugs. 'I mean, I don't know when yours is either. Come to think of it,' he frowns, 'why _don't_ I know?'

'Because I don't like celebrating it,' she replies shortly and she really considers leaving it at that but Booker is looking straight into her eyes and she feels the words tumbling out of her mouth almost without consent. 'My dad and I were born on the same day and I absolutely loved it. After he died, I never felt like celebrating it again. In fact, I would've been perfectly happy if no-one had mentioned it at all. But it would've hurt my mom and my brother, so I never said anything. And then I died and met you guys,' she finishes with a shrug but she can hear her voice shaking just a little.

'I'm so sorry,' Booker whispers.

'Nothing to be sorry about. It was an honest question and I will always give you honest answers. And who knows, maybe one day I'll feel like celebrating it again and if that happens, you'll be the first to know,' she smiles.

'Ok,' Booker smiles softly, reaching to grab her right hand and squeezing it tightly.

'Now, back to you. How come you guys don't do birthdays? I never asked for details back then.'

'Well, none of the guys remembers theirs. I mean, Joe would tell you it's sometime in spring and Nicky thinks it might be in October or November. And then Andy and Quynh are definitely in the dark,' he chuckles. 'As for me... At first, it was just another reminder of my previous life and it hurt like hell. Well, _everything_ hurt like hell and I was stupid enough not to talk about it, so I ended up hurting everybody else along the way. God, sometimes I wonder how they can still look me in the eye after the stunt I pulled,' he sighs, dragging his hand over his face.

'Because they love you,' Nile says simply. 'Wouldn't you have forgiven your sons if they'd done something similar?'

'It's not the same,' he mutters obstinately.

'I beg to differ, but we've had this conversation a thousand times before and we've never reached a consensus,' she smiles.

'Maybe one day,' he smiles back.

'And now?' Nile asks after a couple of moments.

'Now what? Oh, my birthday. I don't know. I guess I've gotten used to not thinking about it. Time has become inconsequential,' he recites in a breathy voice and they both start laughing.

'Good news, guys, we're getting out of here,' Andy shouts from another room. 'We leave in two hours, get packing,' she adds, putting an end to their conversation.

Ten hours later they're invading Nicky and Joe in their house in Malta. It's almost two in the morning but the genuine relief and delight on their faces makes Nile feel significantly better about having disturbed their sleep. Nicky fusses around them, asking three times in a row if anybody's hungry and then deciding they _have_ to be, so he disappears in the kitchen while Joe is getting three more rooms ready. It feels like home, Nile thinks, eager to take a shower and then act upon the little light bulb from earlier.

It takes two more days but when her order finally gets delivered, she actually jumps up and down, barely suppressing her enthusiasm. She does need a moment alone with Booker, though, because this is not something she wants to share with the others. God, she's become so possessive and deep down she knows that with time she's only gonna get worse. Oh, well.

Unfortunately for her enthusiasm, the perfect moment doesn't come until next morning, when Joe and Nicky head out for some shopping immediately after breakfast and Andy and Quynh disappear too, mentioning that they won't be back until dinnertime. She spots Booker in the backyard, lying in the grass with his eyes closed and she heads outside to join him.

'I have something for you,' Nile says without preamble, sitting cross-legged next to him.

'Oh?' he replies, turning his head slightly towards her and opening one eye inquisitively.

She pulls the package from behind her back and places it on his chest, watching Booker snap both eyes open and lifting his eyebrows in obvious surprise.

'What's this?'

'Well, I've missed quite a few of your birthdays and I wanted to make it up to you.'

'But we don't do birthdays,' Booker says neutrally and for some reason, it feels like a stab in the heart.

She looks at him and then at the carefully wrapped package that's still sitting on his chest and all she can think about is that this was a stupid idea. She's even put a damned ribbon on it and it's this precise thought that makes her stomach drop and her skin heat up. This was stupid, so, so stupid and she really wishes she could go back in time and convince herself not to go through with all the silly ideas that pop in her head at random moments. That's not an option, though, so she shrugs in what she hopes is a nonchalant way and moves to get up from the grass.

'Wait, that sounded like shit, didn't it?' Booker says quickly, grabbing her hand and stopping her in her tracks. 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound unimpressed, on the contrary, I'm completely taken aback and positively delighted,' he fires rapidly in the same breath, moving to a sitting position and still holding her hand, as if afraid she might leave if he lets go.

He grabs the package with his right hand, twisting it this way and that and studying the wrapping paper intently and when he lifts his eyes to look at her, he looks absolutely giddy.

'I can't even remember the last time I got a wrapped present,' he grins happily and starts unwrapping it with slow and deliberate moves.

'I have some wrapping paper left if you like it that much,' Nile teases.

'Shut up, I'm savouring the moment,' he mumbles grumpily and he sounds so impossibly young that Nile feels like hugging him tightly until she squeezes all the air out of him. 'Is this a kindle?' he exclaims after he finally manages to carefully remove all the wrapping paper.

'Mhm,' she confirms, feeling all her doubts come back, which prompts her to start rambling. 'Look, I know you prefer physical books and I get why because nothing beats the smell of paper and ink and the fact that you can take notes on them and all that. I mean, you collect first editions, you have hundreds of them all over the world, so a kindle is not really something you'd have chosen yourself. In fact, that's probably why you don't already have one but we got stuck in Lesotho and you only had one book with you and I don't know, I thought it would be nice for you to have an alternative in case it's ever necessary.'

By the end of her diatribe, she's almost out of breath and staring intently at his T-shirt which, by the way, is a lovely shade of green and Booker is so quiet that Nile is starting to wish the ground would open beneath her and swallow her whole. However, when she tentatively lifts her eyes to look at him, he's looking at her with wide, glazed eyes and an expression on his face that she's only ever seen directed at her. Smitten, she realises, he looks completely smitten and it makes her pulse accelerate and her skin prickle pleasantly.

Booker stays quiet for a couple of seconds and then lunges forward, tackling her into the grass and enveloping her in a massive hug.

'Thank you,' he whispers in her ear, followed by something even more quietly that she can't really make out. 'I can't wait to fill it with books,' he adds excitedly, kissing her soundly on the cheek.

'I've already added a few,' Nile says a bit abashedly, 'including my pick for the book club.'

Booker lets out a happy sound that sounds dangerously like a schoolgirl squealing and he returns to a sitting position, immediately opening the kindle.

'Which one is it?' he asks.

' _Cosmétique de l'ennemi_.'

'Oh, I like her a lot! But this one I haven't read. Can I start it _now_? We could go claim the couch before Joe and Nicky return,' he grins mischievously, eyes sparkling with humour.

'Race you,' Nile replies, shoving him until he falls backwards in the grass and bolting towards the house.

His happy laughter echoes across the entire backyard.

**Author's Note:**

> The two books that are mentioned are among my all time favourites and they're unbelievable, especially _La Vorágine_.
> 
> As usual, you can also find me on [Tumblr](https://energievie.tumblr.com/) in case you wanna say hi :)


End file.
